Edgar Arakelyan: I Again and Again Affirm That I Resigned My Mandate of My Own Free Will

Armenian National Assembly Member Edgar Arakelyan of the "My Step" faction has addressed a recent article from one of the media outlets stating that "my steppe counterparts forced him to resign his mandate."

"Since today a ridiculous slander published in one of the newspapers has been circulated by online media without my denial in the same publication, I find it necessary to publish that part myself.
It is a complete absurdity. I don’t know where you have received such false information and why you have decided to publish it, but I want to say to your esteemed readers that a person with such great political ambitions would neither resign their mandate nor, even more so, would they burn their bridges with active politics, stating in their resignation text that they are incompatible with such activities due to the lack of certain qualities. In the case that the scenario you mentioned were true, what would prevent me from leaving the faction and appearing as an independent MP? Or how is it imaginable that a person engaged in such divisive activities would at the same time publish a photo with the faction’s secretary and a colleague (Babken Tunyan) who has a diametrically different opinion on the problematic issue, under the headline "Solid and United," and then the same day give an interview (to the newspaper "Haykakan Zhamanak" on August 23) stating that he will do everything possible to ensure that the faction emerges from this situation stronger?"

I again and again affirm that I resigned my mandate of my own free will, without any pressure or attempts thereof, exclusively for personal reasons, which I may someday talk about," wrote Arakelyan.